Moving to San Diego from Boston three years ago and still rockin' a nickname he picked up as a young skateboarder in his teens, DJ Craig Smoove brings an interesting mix of hip hop and electro house to the San Diego night life scene. Once meeting him, however, one might mistakenly attribute his DJ name to his low-key personality or charming Boston accent.

When he moved to San Diego with a friend, they arrived only with the essentials: a few hundred dollars, clothes, a TV and his deejay equipment. Within three weeks of his arrival, Smooth stumbled upon Mikey Beats at the Red C Lounge.

"[Mikey Beats] really helped me out, and I kinda owe it all to him," Smoove confesses. "I don't know if I believe in fate, but that's what that was."
After that clandestine meeting, Smoove and Beats were able to catch a regular gig spinning music until a small altercation between Beats and the manager of Red C regarding his managerial style. Needless to say, Smoove was on the outs again in San Diego, looking for another club to spin his records.

"Great, I thought," Smoove reminisced. "Welcome to being a deejay in San Diego!"

Since then, Smoove has been working hard to prove to himself and his family back home that he is able to support himself, and be successful making and playing his music for the masses. Currently, he is able to live and work as a deejay full-time, playing at various venues across San Diego. If you happen to catch his set at the Belly Up Tavern, Smooth typically plays 80's pop or metal, but if he's Downtown, odds are he will get the crowd going with hip-hop or house.

"Every deejay has his own style but I want to be able to play everything," says Smoove.
Understanding that the Downtown "industry" can be tough, and that there will always be someone younger and hungrier in line to take his spot, Smoove constantly pushes himself to grow and evolve. Although he started out playing music that meant something to him, 90's hiphop and r&b, he is now branching out into electro house with a bit of a rock-and-roll edge.

"I love 90's hip hop," Smoove explains. "Those songs have memories attached to them like the first time I kissed some girl or a summer back home, but it's hard to keep it fresh with hip hop. Which is why I'm starting to move into electronic music."
With San Diego’s DJ Scooter as his inspiration, and under Mikey Beat's wing, Smoove hopes to solidify his reputation as a strong deejay in San Diego. Once established, he hopes to permeate the club scene in San Francisco, Chicago, and beyond.

"Knowing the right people and having a presence on stage is important," says Smoove "but having charisma and being able to rock a party, that's what being a good DJ is about."